Managing templates and categories

The templates you make available are a major part of the customer experience. Too few and the booth feels stale, too many and customers get overwhelmed. This article walks through how to curate them.

Who this is for: Operators changing the template lineup for an event, season, or as part of routine maintenance.

Where templates come from

BoothIQ templates can come from two places:

1. Templates that ship with the kiosk. A baseline set installed during initial setup
2. Templates pulled down from your cloud library. Uploaded once to your BoothIQ cloud and synced to all your booths automatically

You manage both kinds the same way from the Templates tab in admin.

Enabling and disabling individual templates

To hide a template from customers

1. Open admin → Templates tab.
2. Find the template's card.
3. Tap its enable toggle to off.
4. The template disappears from the customer-facing template selection carousel.

To bring a template back

Same process, toggle to on.

Marking templates as premium

A premium badge appears on the template card in the customer-facing carousel:

1. Open the template's card.
2. Toggle the Premium flag.
3. Save.

The badge is visual only. It doesn't automatically charge a higher price. If you want premium templates to cost more, you'll need to set up a higher-priced product specifically for them. Talk to your BoothIQ point of contact.

Managing categories

Categories are the buttons at the top of the customer template selection screen. They group templates so customers can narrow their choices.

Default categories you might see:

• Classic
• Birthday
• Wedding
• Holiday
• Corporate
• Custom

You manage categories from a Category Management modal accessible from the Templates tab.

Creating a new category

1. Open the Category Management modal.
2. Tap Add Category (or similar).
3. Enter:
   • Name (e.g. "Summer 2026")
   • Sort order (where it appears among the other categories)
   • Active flag (set to active so it shows to customers)
4. Save.

Editing or deleting a category

1. Open the Category Management modal.
2. Find the category in the list.
3. Tap to edit or delete.
4. Save.

Seasonal categories

Categories can be seasonal. They have a date range and only appear during that range. This is one of BoothIQ's most powerful features for event-driven venues.

How seasonal date ranges work

• The date range is in MM-DD format (e.g. 12-01 to 01-15)
• The category is visible during the range
• The category is hidden outside the range
• Cross-year ranges work (December 1 → January 15)
• The booth checks the date automatically. You don't have to remember to enable/disable

Example seasonal categories

• Christmas: 12-01 to 01-05. Visible December 1 to January 5
• Valentine's Day: 02-01 to 02-15. Visible February 1 to February 15
• Halloween: 10-15 to 11-01. Visible October 15 to November 1
• Spring break: 03-15 to 04-15. Visible March 15 to April 15

Set them up once and they take care of themselves year after year.

Orphaned templates

A template is orphaned when its category was deleted or never assigned. Orphans:

• Still appear to customers (if enabled)
• Show up in a separate "uncategorized" group at the end of the carousel
• Show up in a special section in the Templates tab so you can find and fix them

To fix an orphaned template:

1. Open admin → Templates.
2. Find the orphan section (or filter for orphans).
3. Tap the template.
4. Assign it to a category.
5. Save.

Or just disable it if you don't want it in the lineup at all.

Cloud sync and templates

When you have cloud sync enabled, templates pushed to your cloud library are pulled down automatically:

• The Templates tab refreshes with new templates after each cloud sync
• Disabled / removed templates in the cloud are reflected on the booth
• You don't have to manually sync. It happens in the background

To force a sync if you just uploaded a new template and don't want to wait:

1. Open admin → Cloud Sync.
2. Find the manual sync action.
3. Wait a few seconds.
4. Open the Templates tab and confirm the new template is there.

A workflow for an event

Here's a practical workflow for prepping the booth for a wedding or corporate event:

1. A week before the event: Upload custom templates (with the client's branding, colors, etc.) to your cloud library.
2. A few days before the event: Push a sync to the booth and confirm the new templates appear in the Templates tab.
3. Create a category for the event (e.g. "Smith Wedding 2026").
4. Enable the new templates and assign them to the new category.
5. Disable other categories you don't want at the event (e.g. Holiday in March), so the customer-facing carousel is focused.
6. Test: exit admin and walk through a session. Pick the new category and confirm the new templates appear.
7. At the event: Switch the booth to Free Play (if the client is paying you) and let customers go.
8. After the event: Disable the event category. Re-enable the categories you disabled. The booth is ready for the next event.

Verify it worked

You're managing templates effectively when:

• The customer template carousel only shows templates that match your current event or season
• Seasonal categories appear and disappear automatically
• New templates from the cloud appear within minutes of being uploaded
• You don't have orphaned templates lying around

Common problems

New cloud template doesn't appear.

Force a sync from the Cloud Sync tab.

Disabled template still shows to customers.

Tap Save in the Templates tab; exit admin and re-enter.

Seasonal category doesn't appear in season.

Check the MM-DD format and the kiosk's clock.

Lots of orphans after deleting a category.

Re-assign them or disable them in the Templates tab.

Next steps

• Operation modes. Switching between Coin and Free Play for events.
• Templates tab. UI tour of the tab itself.